Drunk man bets to cut off his penis for 2,000 USD and wins the bet

For the first time in the history of Latvian medicine, doctors sewed back on the reproductive organ of a man, which he had cut off himself.

As reported by television program Panorama on channel LTV, a man cut off his penis in an argument, informs Delfi.

Doctors in Gailezertz hospital in Riga informed journalists that there had been cases before where a partially amputated penis had had to be restored. However, this was the first time that genitals had been brought to the hospital in a packet. According to the doctors, the incident was due to stupidity on the part of the patient. Whilst drinking alcohol with friends, he had argued with them that for 1000 lat, (about 2000 dollars), he would cut off his own “manhood”. He won the bet.

The 30-year-old man was admitted into hospital on the night of the 17th July. Aivars Tikhonov, a plastic surgeon from the Latvian Centre of Microsurgery and Plastic Surgery, operated on the patient. In the hospital, Delfi was informed that the man had lost a lot of blood. Urologist Robert Dalis was involved in the operation which took three and a half hours.

“Now I judge the patient’s condition to be better,” declared Tikhonov. “However, it will only be possible to evaluate the results of the operation in a few days, when we see whether the organ becomes integrated. We have to bear in mind that in summer, during hot weather, the tissue dies more quickly. The penis was covered in sand or something similar, so despite the use of antibiotics, it is possible for a serious infection to develop. Factors which may affect the recovery process include the patient’s state of health, the quantity of blood lost and smoking- even one cigarette could cause a crucial spasm in the blood vessels.”

Such operations are a rarity across the world. According to Tikhonov, penis amputations occur very rarely, since the penis is usually protected by clothing and the trauma mechanism has to be specific (revolving mechanisms, explosions, animal bites). In these instances, the tissue is much damaged and restoration of the organ is generally impossible.

“Secondly, a mentally ill person may cut off his own penis. Very rarely are penises sewn back onto people who consciously do this, worldwide,” says Tikhonov.

This is exactly what happened to 26-year-old British fan Geoff Hugh, who in February 2005, whilst watching a historic rugby match between the national English and Welsh teams, impulsively promised that if the English were beaten, he would “cut off his balls”.

The stakes were high but he risked almost nothing, since Wales had last beaten England in Cardiff when Hugh was only 14 years old. But this time, the Welsh won with a score of 11:9.

Astounded, Hugh silently left the club and made his way home, where, without further thought, he cut off his scrotum with a penknife. After this, he took his home-amputated organ back to the pub and showed it to his friends. His friends hit on the idea of putting the scrotum in a glass with ice, but there was no point thinking about restoring it to its place. The best that can be hoped for is a prosthetic replacement.